Tag: Germany

(JTA) — Sam Bloch, a Holocaust survivor who committed much of his life to ensuring that the murder of millions of Jews would not be denied and the lives they led would not be forgotten, has died.

Bloch, who was an executive of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for 50 years, died Sunday. He was 94.

He was one of the principal organizers of historic survivor gatherings in Jerusalem, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York. The New York Times published a lengthy article about Bloch and his family in 1981 as they prepared to attend the World…

(JTA) — Two Berlin museums have returned works to the heirs of a Jewish collector who liquidated them during World War II, according to the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage.

The foundation returned 11 works from the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Skulpturensammlung that had belonged to Margarete Oppenheim, whose family was forced to sell them at a deflated price to the National Socialists in 1936.

Margarete Oppenheim, widow of the chemist and industrialist Franz Oppenheim, died in 1935, six years after her husband. Her collection has been described as one of Germany’s largest and most valuable, containing works…

(JTA) — Germany’s parliament voted to establish a commissioner to deal with anti-Semitism in the country.

Four mainstream parties endorsed the proposal, which noted that while most anti-Semitic crime in Germany is attributable to the far right, there are increased concerns about anti-Semitism among recent refugees and migrants from the Middle East and North Africa.

All the mainstream parties supported the measure with the exception of the Left Party, which abstained in disagreement over wording related to migrants. The anti-immigrant…

(JTA) — A Berlin district court ruled that is permissible to call right-wing German politician Wolfgang Gedeon a Holocaust denier, saying it was a matter of opinion that is protected by the constitution.

Gedeon, who represents the right-populist party Alternative for Germany in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg, had filed an injunction last spring to prevent Josef Schuster, head of Germany’s Jewish umbrella organization, from referring to him as a Holocaust denier.

Schuster had done so publicly in early 2016, noting in various German media that Gedeon had “trivialized and relativized the dimensions, historical significance and classification of the Holocaust.”

Holocaust denial, trivialization and relativization are illegal in Germany.

(JTA) — A Jewish woman has qualified for the final round of the Miss Germany 2018 contest.

Tamar Morali, 21, won the title of Miss Internet over the weekend, which qualifies her to compete against about 20 other women who have won in other categories to become Miss Germany. She was chosen among the 10 contestants in the final round by a panel of celebrity judges, as well as in online voting, following evening gown and bathing suit competitions, as well as a personal interview.

Morali said before the last round that organizers told her she is the first Jewish woman…